At Pickled Barrel we appreciate all things rustic–and that includes the recent fascination with beekeeping. But is it as amazing as its fans claim? We decided to smoke out the benefits of keeping bees so you can judge for yourself if it’s something you want to pursue at home.

Benefits Of Keeping Bees

If you read the news on a regular basis, you’re probably aware that bee populations are down. So many proponents of beekeeping start doing it out of concern for the bees and an interest in providing a safe place for bees to thrive again. What are the benefits of keeping bees? They’re actually many!

1. To provide a safe place for bee populations to thrive helps the environment. Bees gather pollen from plants for miles around where they live, and this helps spread pollen around. Pollination must occur for as much as 90% of the world’s wild plants to live and thrive as usual. Furthermore, as much as 30% of the world’s food production relies on pollination by bees!
2. Fewer bees in the world equates to fewer crops and less supply. High demand paired with less supply means higher prices for consumers. So another of the benefits of keeping bees is a better food economy.
3. Keeping bees is extremely educational, for you and your whole family. Bees actually have a very complex society, including intricate communications with each other. Kids learn a lot about life cycles through beekeeping. Bees are fascinating to watch!
4. Beekeeping affords you the chance to meet new people. Anywhere you live, there is likely a beekeeping association to join. This means the opportunity to network with fellow bee-lovers around you–potential friends you probably have no idea exist!
5. Beekeepers say that keeping bees is a great way to relax and de-stress after work. You might assume that worrying about getting stung is anything but relaxing, but proponents assert that isn’t the case. When you’re calm, the bees are calm, and that leads to a feeling of peace, quiet and harmony with nature.
6. If you keep a garden, you’ll find that keeping bees leads to much better production for your vegetable plants and fruit trees. But not only you–your neighbors for miles around will also notice the benefits from your beehive.
7. Bees don’t care where you live, and they only need a small hive to thrive. Most beehives are no bigger than 18″ by 24″. Even if you have an apartment with a small balcony, you can keep a beehive.
8. Not only do you get to reap the benefits of the honey your bees produce, you also get beeswax for homemade candles and royal jelly. Anything that comes from your bees has numerous health benefits.
9. There is money to be made in keeping bees. Once the honey production reaches capacity, you can easily sell your raw honey to friends and neighbors. Rent your beehive to local farmers during pollination time. Raise bees for selling to other beekeepers.

This is just some of the many benefits of keeping bees. Are you ready to jump in and give it a try? Amazon sells everything you need to get started {except the bees}.